No trouble in alliance with BJP, all is well: AIADMK

Amid a war of words between leaders of the two parties for the past few days, the AIADMK on Thursday said there was no “trouble” in its alliance with the BJP and that the party only objected to actions like the burning of an effigy of its interim general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami by cadres of the ally.

“Where is the trouble or problem? There is no trouble in the alliance. The alliance with BJP continues. At the national level, the alliance is known as National Democratic Alliance (NDA) headed by BJP and here in Tamil Nadu, it is headed by the AIADMK,” former minister D Jayakumar, a close confidante of Palaniswami, told reporters after a party meeting.

AIADMK’s deputy general secretary K P Munusamy too spoke on similar lines saying “minor issues” between alliance partners are common and shouldn’t be projected in a big way. “The party’s interim general secretary will take a call on the alliance,” Munusamy said.

The two leaders spoke to the media after Palaniswami chaired a meeting of district secretaries at the AIADMK headquarters in which he asked party functionaries to begin preparations for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. In the meeting, Palaniswami is believed to have told the district secretaries to start preparing for elections from the booths.

The statements by Jayakumar and Munusamy are significant as speculation mounted that the AIADMK attacking the BJP was the first sign of trouble in the alliance, which was stitched in 2019.

During the interaction, Jayakumar said there was “no issue” between the AIADMK and BJP but “immature” statements by IT wing functionaries of the saffron party and the burning of Palaniswami’s effigies brought tension between the two parties.

“While asking (TN BJP chief K) Annamalai not to compare himself with our leader J Jayalalithaa, we condemned the incidents of BJP cadres going overboard. We sought action against those involved in such incidents. We hope BJP understands our sentiments,” Jayakumar added.

The meltdown by AIADMK leaders comes a day after they went on an offensive against Annamalai and asked him to have the “maturity” to accept leaders leaving his party. Jayakumar also replied in the negative when asked whether the tensions between AIADMK and BJP were discussed in Thursday’s meeting.

The issue between the alliance partners began on Sunday when BJP IT wing chief C T R Nirmal Kumar quit the BJP and joined the AIADMK in the presence of Palaniswami. Nirmal Kumar, who blamed Annamalai for his decision to quit the party, also facilitated the joining of a few others in the AIADMK which irked the BJP.

In his reaction, Annamalai said Dravidian outfits welcoming leaders from BJP is a strong indicator of the party’s growth in Tamil Nadu while taking a subtle dig at Palaniswami for admitting “junior functionaries” into the AIADMK. The former police officer also said he was a leader like Jayalalithaa and M Karunanidhi who are known for their “tough decisions.”